Pavement maintenance works aim at the restoration of the road operationalqualities, which determine safety, comfort, silence, but also decrease fuel consumption and greenhouse effect gas emissions (mainly carbon dioxide). On the other hand, the vehicles consume and emit more during works, because of slowdowns, bottlenecks and diversions. In the course of the FORMAT (Fully Optimised Road Maintenance, 2002-2005) European contract, a calculation of time lost during works was proposed, for which a complement about fuel consumption and emissions was needed. This was assigned to LCPC as one of the tasks of a national research project called PROPICE (Preservationand Rehabilitation Optimised for the existing Patrimony of Infrastructures under strong Constraints of traffic, Environment and residents). For this purpose, a light vehicle was equipped for the measurement of fuel consumption and other operating parameters, in order to carry out tests at different speeds on a special track, then at normal speed on a road circuit, and finally in congested traffic conditions. This enabled the determination of the variations of consumption and emissions in different worksite configurations, according to traffic levels. Further studies will aim at extending these results to a diversified traffic flow, in order to make assessments for the complete lifecycle of a pavement. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
Abstract